"Aelita!" I greet Aelita when meeting her in the air.

"Vio!" she greets me back, "what is happening?"

"Don't know. A teacher called me, saying Plywood's under attack."

"Yeah, same for me."

We reach the outskirts of the school, where a barrier has been activated. Thousands of giant snakes as well as a few truly gigantic ones, perhaps over two hundred metres long, swarm the barrier, the sheer volume trampling over the luxurious districts around Plywood.

"Ah, Ms Vonville, Ms Greenbell," the principal greets us. Around him, security guards are transferring mana into the barrier, their hands glowing blue.

"We understand the problem now, Principal Valeron. How much time do we have until the barrier collapses?" I ask.

"Roughly five minutes, Ms Vonville," one of the security mages reply.

"Aelita, I need more time to raise an army to match these serpents," I say.

"I'll provide it," Aelita replies while nodding. "Nature Summon: Ent!"

Aelita hops out of the barrier, creating a gigantic ent.

"Wood Splinter Rain!" Aelita calls. Large wooden logs with pointy edges hail down from the sky, stabbing the snakes. Aelita's ent raise its gigantic arms, clobbering the smaller serpents and sending the larger ones to the sky.

Slowly, undead hounds powered by my mana emerge from the underground, their numbers in the dozens and eventually hundreds.

Then the barrier finally collapses and the serpents barge in. I wave my hand and the hounds rush toward the slithering snakes.

"Amazing," the principal mumbles.

"Blood Flood!" A sea of blood washes over the snakes, crushing the smaller ones with sheer volume.

"Blood Bone Serpent!" I unleash my creature, downing three of the super sized snakes.

"Where are these things coming from?" I shout, "where on earth is the military?"

"Why are you asking me? How on earth would I know?" Aelita replies.

Wait. Snake-based spells are quite rare ... could it be Dita Luxor? Yeah, it must be her. Nobody else has such command over serpents.

"We know who could possibly cause this," I reiterate as I cast spell after spell, fending off the advancing serpents.

"I know," Aelita says. "If only there's one more Guard here, we can pursue her."

And then the school alarm goes off, its frequency tearing apart my ears. I blink, activating my aura detection ability.

"There are five, no, six strange auras inside the building," I say.

"Go check it out," Aelita says, her spear stabbing at a lunging snake, "I'll handle the situation here."

I reach for my pocket and throw Aelita a communicator. She hastily catches it.

"Be careful."

"Likewise."

As soon as I enter the school gates, I am greeted by small explosive mana bullets raining from above. "Blood Shield!"

"Dance of Bones!" One of the bones pierces the mask of the invader and penetrates their left eye.

I leap to the balcony where the invader attacked and remove the mask. His skin is pale and his ears curled.

"He's an elf ... what's going on?" I murmur, but then I remember the Purists. Could those fanatics be behind this?

I close his eyes and then run towards the cafetaria–I feel a presence there.

"Aelita, these are elves."

"Elves? Not demons?"

"No. I'm heading to the cafetaria now. How's the situation there?"

"Most of the older students and teachers have arrived here. We can stave the snakes off for now, but our stamina and mana aren't limitless."

"Okay. I'll finish these elves and catch up."

Immediately after I break contact, dreadful screams fill my ears. My nimble feet step quickly on the carpeted floors.

I land a circular kick on the cafetaria door. Two more masked elves are firing a beam of energy, but it's being kept at bay by a magical barrier set up by an array of senior students and teachers.

I make a leap, two blades in my hand. One stabbed an elf in his spine, but his companion manage to dodge. I extend my empty hand, tearing off her mask.

"You're an elf," I note, "what's your business here?!"

"Silence, you filthy human!" She unsheathes her sword, her eyes burning with murderous rage.

"Dance of Bones!" The elf cuts through my bone attack with her sharp blade.

"Skeletal Maiden!" A skeleton hugs her tightly from behind, rendering her immobile. I thrust my blade into her stomach.

"Answer."

"Never!" A glow of light appears around her body, breaking the skeleton and forcing me to jump backwards.

"Divine Judgement!" She fires a massive beam of energy from her palms.

She isn't a pushover!

"Blood Vortex!" The spiraling blood quells the beam. The elf attempts to flee by using the open door.

"Blood Salvo!" I hurl gigantic blood arrows at the elf, crushing her skull and spine, sending her flying and triggering gasps of horror from the students.

"Vio, I've downed two of them. Where's the last one?" Aelita asks through the communicator.

"What? What about the serpent assault?"

"John has arrived. He'll manage."

"Okay. The last one is near the southernmost bathroom in the second floor."

"Roger. On my way."

Nearby the stairs, Aelita and I rendezvous. Aelita's unscathed, but I can sense her significantly reduced mana reserves.

"Don't kill this one. We need them for interrogation," I say.

"What? You killed the other three?" Aelita asks.

"Uh, yeah, yes. What about the two you defeated?"

"I had to kill them, too," Aelita replies somewhat bitterly, "they almost blew up an entire classroom worth of students."

We fly with our wings quietly, so as to not alert our foe. We see her assembling something near the bathroom, devoid of students.

"Gaia's Advent of Roots!" Aelita whispers. Violent tree roots crack open the ground, coiling the elf.

I tear off her mask and stare at her eyes directly. Aelita immediately examines the machinery the elf has tampered.

"Who sent you?" I ask.

"Filthy human," she replies while spitting at me, "you're not worthy of speaking to me."

"Blood Chains," I murmur. The chains latch themselves to her neck.

"That green haired girl is a nice and forgiving girl," I whisper, "I'm not."

The chains get tighter and tighter, slowly choking the elf.

"Vio! It's a bomb!" Aelita declares. "This machinery is a bomb! And a strong one, too; it would've wiped out this school."

"Luckily, it's not yet finished," Aelita says with a bright smile, causing me to sigh in relief.

"Heh ... I'm not going to live anyway," the elf mutters.

"Huh? What are you–"

I can't finish my words as I realize her intentions. Her violent and chaotic mana is bubbling up, seeping out of the elf.

"Aelita, back off! Cast your shields around her!"

"What? Wha–"

"She's suicide bombing!"